Lovely festive read. It was a heart warming romance. It was a wonderful book to read. It was well written and flowed well.

Review featured at www.books-n-kisses.com

This is a quick novella that really has nothing to do with Christmas but that being said it was a fast read that leaves you in suspense.

As with most novella’s you can’t say too much about the plot or you give things away and with this story going so quick (about 100 pages). But I will say it is a wonderful romantic suspense that is perfect between full novels.

As always Burton is on par with the best.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Christmas Past (Kindle Edition) by Mary Burton Thanks to the publisher and #NetGalley for letting me preview this book. Nicole Piper ( widow with a baby..escaped her abusive husband) but did she? David Ayden(widowed with two teenage sons..police detective) in love with Nicole. There is evil, danger, scary stuff, laughter, tears and steamy stuff all to get to a HEA.

Reasons I enjoyed this book:
Romantic Easy-to-read Great world building Tear-jerker Wonderful characters Steamy Page-turner Action-packed Happily Ever After Scary Tragic

CHRISTMAS. PAST. MaryBurton
Nicole made her living doing commercial portraits, which supports Beth and herself. A comeback after three years, the joy of seeing them. Five years with an abusive husband, she finally fled, he was dead, yet, she kept checking the locks. A delayed package is given to her, a dvd and her world once again has crumbled. Was it a truth, it was a matter now for the police to figure out.
David Ayden has the detective duty for the Christmas holidays. Getting a call about the dvd, that Nicole had gotten. He is on alert mode now, wanting to protect her. Truthfully, he wanted the whole family thing, if she would let them date. Meanwhile he and the department would dig into this matter. One is drawn in from the first.a young woman with a small baby, and you want answers. How come she is afraid, and glad she has close friends. The plot flowed to the end, and not wanting to stop reading.
Given ARC for my voluntary review and my honest opinion by Net Galley and Kensington books.













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Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of Christmas Past by Mary Burton that I read and reviewed.
This is a reissue that was released before. The first thing I have to say is I am a huge Mary Burton fan and this novella was not what I was expecting from her. From the start I felt like I was in the middle of a full book and I had no clue what was going on. I really wish this novella never happened. The characters were great but I wanted to know what really happened to Nicole’s husband. Burton talks about him being killed while trying to hurt Nicole well I want the details. Not just that he is dead. Then this book and why it took place I feel like I still don’t have the closure Nicole was trying to get for her friend. It was jus a hot mess for me.
I can’t recommend this book. I am only able to give Christmas Past one out of five stars.

Reading Christmas mysteries cozies is my yearly tradition. I started this year with Christmas Past, a romantic suspense novella by Mary Burton. I chose it based on the cover - it looked like it would be kinda eerie and creepy, sort of a touch of Halloween at Christmas. Unfortunately, it wasn't. It was originally part of an anthology but is being released as a standalone. Trouble is, it felt like it started in the middle of the story which might have been alright if the missing parts didn't seem so central to the story. It also had very little to do with Christmas which was more a backdrop there and gone than part of the tale. My biggest criticism, though, and admittedly this is on me - I'm not usually a fan of romantic suspense but Christmas is one of the few times I make an exception. In this case, however, once I got the gist of what had occurred previously, it seemed like a decent suspense novel interrupted at the most inopportune times for romantic interludes. This tended to throw off the momentum of the story. Still, it's short enough that this didn't make me stop reading and, to be honest, I just skipped over the romantic bits to get to the action. My recommendation - if you're a fan of romantic suspense and are looking for a short, fast read, you might want to give it a try.

<i>Thanks to Netgalley and Kensington Books for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review</i>

A novella which is obviously a sequel to a book or series of books I haven't read. This was confusing as I was missing the background context of a lot of the interactions. The author seemed confused whether they were writing a police thriller or a romance (not that they necessarily need to be mutually exclusive). The story also wasn't particularly a Christmas story but merely set at Christmas. All of that being said I would possibly look at reading other stories by the same author.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this short story

a quick short story by one of the best authors around...

domestic violence and christmas, they go together like strawberries and wine...

a young woman has survived domestic violence and is bringing up her daughter but the scars run deep...the attraction she feels for the new man in her life triggers memories she cant seem to put behind her...

then she receives a letter from her dead ex husband..and so it begins...

brilliant written short story...not a big fan of short stories but this one is high up in my top ten...

This is my first book by Mary Burton and my second novella that I’ve read. I finished this in two days. I loved the writing style and the story line. Despite what Nicole went through in the end she didn’t give up and she found true love. Definitely a page turner filled with suspense and love.

Two dollars is two dollars.

She's had a sad three years.

That is such a spooky feeling.

Ooh la la! Ayden was naughty in church.

Crazy-pants.

Whoa, slow your roll, Ayden!

Ms. Wellington is a twat.

Jeez Louise, Denny is way too good at this.

At least Charlotte is fixing her wrong. Sorry she got shot.

Christmas Past is a quick suspense read with the wintery holiday as a backdrop providing a nice little story to read by the fire.

Nicole escaped her abusive husband, now dead, and is moving on until she receives a letter promising to identify the killer of the woman who helped her escape. Nicole knows the letter will dredge up the past, and it does require she go on a goose hunt for information. Not something she’s looking forward to, but Nicole wants the man who murdered her savior brought to justice, not only for her, but for the woman’s family so that they might have some measure of peace, especially since it’s the holiday season. Also, on the upside she won’t have to face her past alone, since Detective David Ayden is determined to see her through this journey.

Nicole and David were getting close, but Nicole put the brakes on their relationship not yet ready for romance so soon after running from her horrid husband. Spending time together while they try and hunt for the killer gives them a second chance at love.

Christmas Past was a quick, entertaining read, one you could blaze through in an evening. I really liked David and didn’t understand some of Nicole’s reluctance, but I’ve never come out of an abusive relationship so what do I know? I liked Charlotte Wellington, the attorney, despite her taking on Nicole’s ex-husband’s task, and I worried for her welfare. She was a fighter and I liked that!

I didn’t realize Christmas Past was part of a collection of stories, three I think, with Fern Michaels and Judy Duarte authoring the other two novellas. Christmas Past was the only story I received for review, and I’ve never read anything by the other two authors.

This book was ok for me ... I felt like I got thrown into the middle of an awesome thriller that turned out more romance in the end.
A short quick story.

Nicole Piper was first introduced in a previous book by Mary Burton. She was hiding out from her abusive husband and moved to Virginia. She feels like she can finally live her life with her baby, but her dead husband, who was stalking her and obsessed with her, has reached out from the grave. She has many friends in her corner trying to help, especially cop David Ayden. Ayden is a father of 2 boys, widowed, who has very strong feelings for Nicole. She tries to handle the threat on her own, but Ayden will be with her every step of the way.

It is a really short story and everything happens so fast. There are other very interesting characters in this story, I feel like there are so many unanswered questions about, and I hope they get their story told.

This is a well-written and fast paced romantic suspense story. This is the first book that I have read by Mary Burton and I like her writing style. I will be looking for more books by her.

I love Mary Burton, but I felt like for this book you need to read several before it in the series. She was talking about the law partners and other people and I hadn't read those books yet. So I was like what? huh? It was confusing. I set aside this book and started reading some of the others so I could have more of an idea of what was going on. I think I definitely prefer her full length novels vs a novella, i like more details and more mystery, but this was a fun and quick read!

Nicole was a great character who had escaped domestic abuse. When she receives something from her dead ex she has to return and get something he left her. David is a homicide detective and was interested in Nicole. When he goes with her they end up with more than expected as her dead husband reaches out for her from beyond the grave. Lots of action and plenty of steam with an HEA. This was a fast and fun story! Loved it!!

I know this was billed as a Christmas book, but its' really more a mystery/women in jeaopardy book that just so happens to take place around Christmas. A good plot and solid characters make it a great story from Mary Burton and her fans will enjoy it.

This is a novella that was previously published in an anthology. I had read this story when it was first published, I read the story again to review it and as usual Mary Burton hooked me back into the story.

What a delicious Christmas story about hardship, love, and the power love has to overcome all evil. This was a fast paced read that I devoured in one day!

This was a little confusing but that was probably on my end. I went into this thinking it was a full novel, not a short story. I didn't enjoy the romance in this book. It seemed odd, especially when you hear David wanting to scold her for not wearing a better jacket etc. He seemed overbearing and too protective especially considering what relationship Nicole had come out of. Overall, I didn't mind the writing but would probably not read again.